My verdict on Gaia hypothesis: beautiful but flawed

LIFE has steered Earth's environment over billions of years, helping to keep it stable and comfortable for living things. That's the crux of James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis, which addresses enduring questions such as "how does our planet work?" and "how is it that Earth has remained continuously habitable for more than 2 billion years?"

Gaia is a fascinating hypothesis, but is it right? Working out the answer is particularly significant as we battle to be stewards of a planet with a human population of 7 billion and rising. If we don't understand how our planet's environment works, how can we know the best way to preserve it?

I first became interested in Lovelock's idea when I read his book Gaia: A new look at life on Earth and became intrigued by the idea that our planet could regulate itself. That interest influenced my career, eventually leading me ...

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